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Oprah At Graceland

In the summer of 2006, Oprah Winfrey and her friend and colleague Gayle King took a road trip in America and shot footage along the way for a series of weekly features for the current season of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Billed as "Oprah and Gayle's Great Adventure," the trip brought the ladies to Elvis Presley's Graceland for a special evening with Lisa Marie Presley and her husband Michael Lockwood. First was a tour of Graceland, then the four gathered in the dining room for relaxed, personal conversation and a downhome-style dinner in the Presley family tradition.
The Graceland feature is set to air on the Tuesday, October 10th edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Elvis footage will be included.

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Delnis, Mature Elvis fans take it all in their stride. We are well accustomed to the media's treatment of Elvis......................... and here we are. I cannot speak for all Elvis fans, young or old. It's foolish to try and do so. We are all individuals and "True Elvis fans". Publicity is very important indeed. Shrewd Business men prudently spend millions on it. Therefore free publicity must be most welcome. I'm not a fan of Oprah, I hardly ever see her show. Lisa could have been better educated I guess, perhaps she should have been sent to finishing school. LOL.

To feel or show honor or esteem for; hold in high regard. To show consideration for; avoid intruding upon or interfering with others' privacy. That is respect and some of you write so much garbage, if you can't write anything respectful then get the hell out. All you are doing is admitting to even less respect for yourselves even. Why do you invade such an awesome site with you bs. Having a right to your opinion is not destroying everything else for everybody else. Get a life and show more respect and keep you negative opinion to yourselves, we don't need this here!!!

Lisa is not Elvis, She is his daughter and thats that!. She can not sing like her Father nor will she ever reach the heights that her dad did, she should try and keep his memory alive and be proud that she is the only daughter that elvis will ever have. she has not done right by him.

No matter what happens in te Elvis world there will always be people who are unhappy. With such a large and diverse fan base, that is inevitable. In this case I am happy with the show based on reports I have heard. Anything that keeps Elvis name in front of the public will help to sell more Elvis product, and therefore will encourage Sony/BMG to keep investing. It is easy to be critical of EPE, but the reality is that the have kept the Elvis image alive, without which much of the product we value (and we all have different preferences) might never have come into existance.

Oprah meeting Lisa or Cilla is irrelevant to the great legacy of Elvis. In fact it depresses me that Cilla has anything to do with Elvis's legacy or comes across as representing him in anyway... yes she was a part of the history but as the ex-wife - that's it. As far as Lisa goes she really has not made a great success of it has she? I would admire her far more if she devoted herself to maintaining the memory and defending her father the late great Elvis Presley who's iconic presence changed so much for so many of us. The point is Elvis was exploited from the very early days by the carney manager who did not understand nor care that he had in his charge the greatest entertainer the world ever knew or will know - now they just carry on the tradition of turning out Elvis Ducks and Elvis wastepaper bins and celebrities like Oprah turn up at Graceland to pay 'homage' to the King as part of the latest circus - it is depressing, sad and unfortunately inevitable as Elvis was so great in many ways but not in business and did not protect his legacy - nor did he have around him anyone who could do so. What a difference it would have made if it was all put in a charitable trust if not by Elvis then by his family - but that is a dream, alas...

Maurice, The point being made is that long-time EP fans, by and large, hate the commercialism. The point also being made is that Oprah is a joke, Lisa is a joke, her many husbands are a joke, and no true fan who cared about E and the legacy would think that a televised dinner with Oprah Winfrey and LM and hubby has any value. The only result from such a program is further commercialism of Elvis, and perhaps some ratings for her pitiful show. Incidentally, you might remember that her magazine ran some story about how Elvis stole his music from blacks . . . yada, yada . . . so that makes her a big, fat hypocrite. You also state: "Serious music fans are not influenced by the commercial aspect." I disagree to the extent that while newer "serious" fans are not influenced, the old-timers, generally, don't care at all for the tasteless commercialism. And lastly, you say that E welcomed fans to his home by coming down to the gates . . . . . . key words: "to the gates" . . . NOT into the house. And frankly, I know that he didn't always go to the gates when he was home; it was only on occasion. This is simply a matter of having respect for a man and his home. Clearly, his daughter, his ex-wife, and too many fans simply do not understand the term "respect".

Jerome said, quote: "Actually, most people like Elvis in their own way. But when people in leading or public positions happen to like them, is that right for becoming world news?". Yes. Especially if Elvis footage is shown. I'm presently encouraging people to use the "Elvis was a racist" slur, to our advantage by actually highlighting the story so we can address it by using all the excellent replies to the lie written by Elvis fans. Their admirable work on the subject can be found on the major Elvis Presley Forums. What a fascinating subject Elvis is, we all have our own personal view..even here in Irelandtoo.

Besides over-reacting women in the shows (and Tom Cruise...) I've got nothing against Oprah. That's not the point. I don't want to see Graceland to be cheapened more than it is. Okay, nothing against people, including celebrities liking or using Elvis for a program, but maybe my personal wish is to see certain figures loose from Elvis. Some people, like Oprah and like Bush, don't get extra CREDIT from me for liking Elvis, "sorry folks (like Elvis would say) nothing personal" Actually, most people like Elvis in their own way. But when people in leading or public positions happen to like them, is that right for becoming world news?

delnis, Yes I have seen Oprah's studo audience. I wasn't thinking of them but the millions of ordinary people around the world who will enjoy seeing clips of Elvis performing. EPE cheapened Elvis's image back in the 1950s with allsorts of cheap dolls and plastic guitars. The Beatles got the same treatment:-) Serious music fans are not influenced by the commercial aspect. But I do have a bust of the great Ludwig Van Beethoven! Elvis welcomed his fans to Graceland by coming down to the famous gates to talk to them, and sign autographs etc. Yes it was his home and he loved to share it. :-) The BBC TV Elvis ad has just come on our TV behind me, a 8am! I rest my case.

oprah is good people, she is a self made woman who came from nothing just like elvis and she knows whats its like to have nothing. Now lisa marie who is brainless would be consedered "lucky egg or lucky sperm depends on how you look at the subject. she should only know what elvis and oprah went through to make to the top. reading stories and seeing movies just aint the real thing i for one would not break bread with her, and her marriages are all a sham. remember that nut michael she married. which husband is this?

Oprah did claim somewhere that she is a distant relative to Elvis. I'm sure she must be as I see the resemblance dont you guys?! Let them make merry now who cares as the King is gone! As long as we get the dvds, all of them even if it took 25 years when half the fans are dead, lets hope to stay happy for them.

MauriceColgan: Well, if you ever see her audience, (have seen clips here and there and saw the episode with Priscilla and Lisa), it's comprised primarily of women who scream and yell and applaud and look at Oprah as though she's some sort of god or something, like she hung the moon. No thanks! (In fact, Saturday Night Live had a skit about her show that highlighted the stupid way the silly women in her audiences behave). I personally think she's annoying, and I believe her to be a bigot. Maurice, when you say the publicity will be welcomed by fans world-wide, that may be true, in that the younger fans would be interested, as they're still learning about E as a person and performer, but as an old-timer, I'm appalled by what Priscilla and Lisa have done with the estate, really cheapened the image, IMO. And Robert Sleazeman, I mean, Sillerman - - just an updated version of Parker. And as an old-timer, I thoroughly believe that E himself would not approve of how Graceland has been used and consumed by the maniacal masses, nor would he approve of the tasteless items being commercialized in his name. Jerome: I agree with you that they need to stop using Graceland for publicity. Sean Ryan: That's correct, I remember that. It was indeed racist.You know, I was just looking at the Graceland Cam a few minutes ago . . . think about it, that was his home, his retreat, the home he bought at the beginning and the home he retained to the end . . . do people and "fans" have NO respect for E and his privacy, his home, his solitude? The answer, of course, is a resounding NO. And that's sad.

after having Bush and the Japanese president, I can't recall his name, now it's Oprah's turn. Who's next? president Poetin, Sally Spectra or the prime -minister of Botswana? please stop using Graceland for this kind of publicity

The international publicity generated by Oprahs visit to Graceland will be welcomed by by the vast majority of Elvis fans world-wide. Oprah is a Messiah? Wow! I just thought she was just a very successful TV personality who has interesting guests on her show, occasionally. Not that I see her show very often. At least Elvis footage will be shown:-) We all know a picture is worth a million words, so actual film or video could be worth volumes?

So what? We've seen Graceland, inside and out, we've seen LM and hubby # . . . what is it?? And we've seen big fat Oprah. Yada, yada. I couldn't care less what Oprah and Gayle do or where they go. Oprah is a boring, self-absorbed, biased woman, and evidently some sort of messiah to millions of airheaded women who can't think for themselves.

More major TV publicity for Elvis approaching Christmas, but will BMG use it to help increase sales of Elvis CDs? Especially the wonderful Christmas Album! We wait with baited breath...even here in Irelandtoo.